Dealing with cops, understanding your rights,.... by a cop.

reply to post by seeashrink


I missed it the first time, you did say that in your post. Sorry, I knew these speed reading classes would get me in trouble. Anyway, thank you for a very well thought out and informative post.

Am I under arrest?

Hey OP, good thread.

This might be a bit off topic but, what would you suggest to do in order to improve ones chances of becoming a police officer in USA?

reply to post by seeashrink


What a terrific idea Very good informative post S&F for you. I have dealt with so many officers all over the country. Mostly N.Y.S.P. as a commercial driver and have had very few that have had a bad attitude . Respect goes a long way as well as having your documentation in order. Thanks again and be careful out there.

I do have another story about some cops that beat the crap out of me one night. I think they went overboard, and yes I pissed them off big time.

It was my first and last time at our local strip club and I got really drunk while I was there. I stumbled out of the place and realized that I was way to drunk to drive home. While I was sitting in the truck with the door open, a cop pulled up and asked me if I was trying to get a ride home since I was on the phone. I told him yes and he went on. I couldn't get hold of anyone so I thought that I would walk home since I lived only 2 miles up the road.

As soon as I stepped onto the edge of the road, there was the same cop pulling up and telling me that I was under arrest for public intoxication. He put me in the car after he handcuffed me and I asked him if he could just take me home since I lived a lot closer than the jail was. I told him that policemen used to do that back in the days, but he refused and was really cocky about it.

Well, me being dog drunk, the more he refused, the more the liquid courage got to me and I got really pissed off. I ended up kicking the side window out of the car. When we arrived at the police station, I was already calmed down because I knew I had screwed up when the window blew out. There were four other cops waiting when we pulled up in front of the police station. They drug me from the car and slammed me on the ground and started hitting me with their billy clubs and kicking me and I was still handcuffed. After the beating they took me inside and sat me in a chair, The chief came in about ten minutes later and I smiled at him. He walked over to me and grabbed me by the throat and slammed my head against the wall, then threw me to the floor where he kicked me a few times. I was still handcuffed behind my back.

I tried to bring charges against them but they all stuck together and said that I was so out of control that I was the one who caused all the bruises to myself.

They had every right to be pissed off at me, but they didn't have to beat me like they did. I could hardly move for over a week. I kept the bruises for over a month. I learned real quick to not mess around with the small town police department. That was my last time that I had a run in with the law. Needless to say, I quit drinking after that night. That was 10 years ago....

reply to post by ReAlIzAtIoN

Be at least 21. Have a clean record. Be in physical condition. Get an education. Have character and ethics. Be careful.
Seeashrink

P. S. If you need more details u2u me.

Originally posted by seeashrink
reply to post by Keeper of Kheb

 

In the most basic of terms, you are correct. It is a right in the sense that you have the right to drive IF you meet the requirements. Everybody has that same right. It is a priveledge in that when you earn a driver's license, it can be taken away from you for certain violation or a culminations of violations. I think that you would agree that a habitual drunk driver needs his license suspended, etc.
Seeashrink

I agree somewhat with you on certain points. I believe liscensing is a control mechanism in the government to a certanin extent. For example in oklahoma home security companies were put out of business because the government decided to regulate it through liscensing. Contractors cant work on homes unless they are liscensed by the state in lead paint and have to maintain fees to the government. I completely respect officers and in every traffic stop i have been in i have been courteous since my father was a cop and a lot of his friends are cops i can understand a lot of whch you are sayng. There are things i like and dislike about our transportation system for one i believe that liscensing should be removed and replaced with a certification. I believe tags and registration fees should be dropped. The certification requirement would be only to educate the person in proper travellimg and laws that govern them. In my opinion its a leech tax to pay for these.

reply to post by kennylee


I'm sorry for your experience. To say that they were out of line would be an understatement. The cop could have took you home that night with no harm done. If he had and a couple of weeks later you had seen him on the side of the road getting his butt beat, I bet you would have stopped to help. But after them beating you, if you had seen any of them on the side of the road getting their butt's beat you would not be likely to have done anything, but wave. This is one of the things I try to remember when dealing with people. If I give them a square deal, they will remember me if I ever need help someday.....hopefully.
Seeashrink

reply to post by 11PB11


Maybe this is a dumb question, but isn't it illegal to record a conversation unless the cop knows it's being recorded? I could be totally wrong about that.

reply to post by seeashrink


I don't hold any animosity against them for their beating. It was a bad deal all the way around. Honestly, it made me finally straighten my life out, so even though it wasn't right on their part, it helped me in the long run. I guess you could say that they knocked some sense into me..

reply to post by gemineye


You can record/tape anything in a public setting.

reply to post by StlSteve


Gotcha! I stand corrected! Thanks for that.

reply to post by seeashrink


Thanks for the interesting and informative thread, OP.

By the way, what do you make of videocameras? For example, suppose the driver or a passenger pulls out a videocamera or films the exchange by a cellphone, hand-cam, etc.? I saw some headlines recently to the effect that they were passing or trying to pass anti-police-filming laws but I haven't really looked into athe issue. Do you have any comments on people filming? It seems to me a good way to avoid any potential unpleasantness, but on the other hand I could easily see a policeman interpreting this the wrong way and the whole situation getting ugly.

I've been stopped by cops twice; each time I was guilty, neither time I got a ticket. I believe it's because when they approached the car I had put it in park and turned it off and kept my hands in sight. I greeted them with a smile. Good manners will go a long way in any situation. Neither time did I realize I was speeding until I saw the lights and looked at the speedometer and said well darn. When asked I didn't try to deny it and told both officers I didn't have a good reason to speed and wasn't going to try and blow smoke. Both times being honest is what did the trick. That and a bit of friendly convo.

I've found that being polite and friendly goes a very long way when dealing with anyone. A smile and a polite greeting goes a long long way and as the OP said you don't know what kind of day they've had.

reply to post by gemineye


You can also walk around with a gun on your hip - it's called the right to bear arms. I don't recommend it though

Dont make any sudden movements, stay calm no matter how aggresive they get, etc, etc

Sounds kinda like the same advice you would give someone confronted by a rabid dog.


Its a sad thing that the relationship between those that are susposed to uphold the peace and those that just want to live in peace have come to this. Maybe I am just old but I remember the time when it wasnt like this

Originally posted by 11PB11
Hey guys, this is what I do every time I get pulled over and I would advise you to do it too......

I record the conversation on my phone, and I place the phone above the steering wheel on the dash so it has no problem recording. Not that I get pulled over a lot, but i've had my dealings with good and bad cops, and you never know which kind youre getting. So do everyone a favor in keeping the bad cops in check by recording!

By the act of recording the conversation you could go to jail. Have you not heard. Recording or tapping cops can get you thrown in jail even if the reording is being used to defend you in court. They can tape you but you can not tape them.

Originally posted by StlSteve
reply to post by gemineye

 

You can record/tape anything in a public setting.

That is not as true as you think it is. Try it sometime and see.

reply to post by fixer1967


What do you mean? What was your experience? I'd really like to know.

Originally posted by seeashrink
There are more cocky officers with bad attitudes than there are good ones. There are many reasons for this but one of the biggest is fear. That’s right…fear. The officer must feel that he/she is in control of the situation and that you view him in a position of authority. If not, he is out of control and this is a scary situation for him. So to compensate for this fear he develops the cocky attitude. The problem is that most officers cannot differentiate between the circumstances that need this attitude and the ones that do not. In other words, if the officer just came from a fight at the bar where he needed all the control that he could muster and then stops you for running a stop sign, he may find it hard to make the transition. This is not an excuse, but it is a fact.

First of I want to say thanks for writing all this. It will no doubt come in handy.

Anyway, this particular part of your thread reminded me of something that happened to me when I was younger. I was about 16 and it was the 4th of July. We had bought fire works earlier that day and we went to this place that we had always gone to to set them off. This was a public place where fire works were sold and people from the surrounding cities went to set off their fireworks.

Only apparently this year, they were not allowing people to bring their own fireworks on to the land. You had to buy it there if you wanted to set them off their. We did not know that though. Se we ( My mom, sister, her boyfriend at the time and I) are walking to find a place to set them off. A cop ( real big guy) came up to me and asked to see what was in the bag. I of course showed him and said it's just fire works...

He said, if you did not buy them here you can't set them off here... I understood. No problem at all... But I was curious and said " Oh, ok, no troubles meant. Is that a new city law or something?" And I guess he took that as me questioning his authority. He just blew up! He started screaming and cussing at us insisting that we leave now or we will be arrested. So we all just walked back to our cars. Not saying a word as he followed us screaming and cussing...

Now I was young and I didn't even think to get his badge number or anything... So we just got in the car and drove away... a whole 20 feet across the street to a different place that also sells fire works and to this day allows you to bring your own fireworks...

Now... I always wondered what could have set this cop off... I mean, it was an innocent question that I asked him and I was very polite and smiling and everything... But now that you mention it. It is very possible that he just got finished dealing with some idiots fighting or something.... As you said.. No excuse for that kind of behavior.... but still...

Now to this day, this particular cop stands out as the worst cop I have ever had to deal with. Highly unprofessional and quite frankly, I really wish I had thought to get his badge number to make an official complaint.

It's just sad, when the 16 year old kid is acting more maturely and handling the situation better than a cop.... Man was he childish.... But I digress.

Thanks so much for writing all this.

Mr. Cop guy:

Thanks for the public service announcement but most people know it will probably work out better for them if they don't fight with the cop. The people who will give you an attitude are the ones with a previous negative history.

Though it's true the majority of cops probably just want to give a valid ticket, there is a significant enough percentage who will abuse traffic stops. These cops ARE PROTECTED. The author of this thread might be the exception but cops almost never report other cops. This goes for corrupt illegal behavior and just disrespectful behavior too.

I still remember I was pulled over a number of years ago for speeding. Since I was speeding, I just expected a traffic ticket. Instead, the trooper asked if I had any weapons and then asked me to sit in the police car. At this point about a thousand things are running through my head. He then just wrote out a warning and let me go. I honestly probably would have preferred the speeding ticket.

So if you want people to be polite when you pull them over, start with a conversations with other cops.